The tech-elves over at iFixit.com have published a complete teardown of the new iPhone 5, barely hours after the handset first became available. Obviously, we're most interested in the camera, which according to Apple, will give improved image quality over its predecessor. Although a teardown doesn't reveal much about how the new device will actually perform, it's interesting to see everything reduced to its component parts.

Apple is making a lot out of the fact that it is using sapphire crystal in the iPhone 5's camera. According to Miroslav Djuric, 'Chief Information Architect' at iFixit, 'sapphire would be a sensible choice to use as the outermost camera element because it is remarkably hard — a 9/10 on the Mohs hardness scale'.

You know the specs, but what does the iPhone 5 look like when reduced to its component parts? Click the link below to find out.

According to Djuric, 'we tried scratching the clear cover with a pair of steel tweezers and the lens remained scratch-free. While this doesn't confirm that the protective cover is made from sapphire crystal, it does mean that it is quite hard and scratch resistant.'

Comments

1) The term “sapphire glass” is an oxymoron being that glass is an amorphous material, where as sapphire is a crystal matrix. Disappointing for an “optics” related site to not know or be sensitive to the difference. But then again, most iPhone users are simply thumbology masters that graduated from some other toy, perhaps a Blackberry or PS2, and know little if anything about physics and optics. What’s next, degrees Kelvin?

2) Being that sapphire has a high index of refraction needs an optical coating to reduce reflections off the first surface do to impedance mismatch at the surface between n1 (air) and n2 (window). The article, from the attempt to scratch the surface of the window, reads as though the sapphire widow is without an antireflection coating.

I care. Shlepping my Olympus Pen around all the time simply isn't practical. But the iPhone 5's camera (especially in conjunction with the free "Camera Awesome" App ) means I now rarely miss an opportunity to capture an image or two during the working day.

If we persist in listening to the geniuses on Wall Street, who for years were clamoring for Apple to be sold to IBM and then handily wrecked a global economy through their intellectual prowess, we'd never see innovation or the fruits of R&D because firm who engage in that - like Apple, Nokia etc, get punished by the investment community for "diverting" revenues from profits.

+I am selling my 2 years old iPhone4 on eBay and the next guy will use it for another two years. The just released iOS6 and the next iOS7 will support iPhone4 so the software will be current till at least September 2014

iphone in the our country(and in many other countries) is not a smarphone but thing that shows your social status for many people ;) like expesive car or something like that. So, you can't wear previous year collection and you can't have previous iphone ;)

Interesting, because where I live, owning anything produced by Apple makes you look like a gullible idiot!

Before their battle with Samsung, owning an Apple product basically made you look like a follower, someone who can't think for themselves. But now it's even worse, it looks like you have no morals either.

One thing for sure is that it's no status symbol here, at least, not unless you want your status to be one of those I mentioned above :-)

Well, I have just a little under one and a half grand to spend on such products as Apple produce right now. I'm preparing to emigrate and need an ultra-portable device.

Let me assure both you, and Apple, they won't be getting a penny of it :-)

Not only that, I want to be able to pull the phone out in public without feeling stupid, and I really don't think that's possible with an iPhone 5. I'd be worried about getting held down by a gang, and forcefully having the word "Gullible" tattooed across my forehead.

As for treatment; you might like to know the cost for Apple users is cheaper still.

@ Pavel SokolovYes, I seem to have forgot that Russian like foreign high-end products. Here in the US, an iPhone is the same price as ever other flagship phones and have better resell values so for quite a number of people is it actually cheaper.

@Peiasdf - current price for iphone5 in russia is about $2000 for 64gb model :) Just a few years ago, any Apple product was a gay marker here :) even today there is a lot jokes about it. @gary mercer - is it a good price to care about? :)

The same model without 2-year phone plan (and it's subsidy) is going to be $849 in the US (at least in the states without sales tax). You can fly to NYC from Moscow, rent a car, drive to Delaware, buy unlocked iPhone5 64GB, fly back - and still be better off than buying it in Russia.

So much vitriol–why? Apple's just another brand, after all. I use their computers bcuz my experience has been they are simple and reliable. My Dad still uses my now nearly 15-year G3 Power Mac desktop, purchased new for my senior year in graphic design school. It's slow and has had to add a USB port since the SCSI that was then mainstream is no longer supported, but for desktop publishing and playing music, he's happy with it. Matter of fact, every one of the six Macintosh computers I've bought is still in use by someone in my family. That I am a user of Apple gear isn't because I'm pretentious, slavish or not smart enough to get on with a PC, but because they've proven to be high quality, high performance and reliable devices. If I could say the same of the PCs I've used, I'd be a happy user of PCs.

My iPhone 4 was preceded by a Motorola Cliq and Blackberry Bold–both of which suffered catastropic failures within 6 months. 2 years later, the iPhone has never experienced a failure.

Hype? You've got this totally backwards. The material known as sapphire glass is NOT glass at all, but is manmade crystalline sapphire sliced into sheets. Sapphires have been synthesized for over a century and enormous crystals can be grown. Sapphire watch crystals are also actual sapphire, not glass.

Since the iPhone has such good resale value, I'm getting $320 for my 4s, it "only" costs me a couple of hundred to upgrade to the 5. My iPhone is being constantly used, for txt'ing, email and occasional phone calls. I have apps on it that I need for work. I would upgrade for the camera improvements alone, since after all I'm a photographer. I get my jobs with it so I'm not about to penny pinch with it. On our Hollywood sets almost everyone uses one, as well as almost every computer being an Apple. On my commercials I would say there are typically 25 Apple laptops to one PC, usually owned by the corporate client. My gal didn't like all of the Apple hype so she went from a 3s to a Thunderbolt. She claims she likes it but I hear her muttering about it a lot. Yes, Apple Maps is a disgrace! I hope I can download Google Maps when I get the 5 delivered later this week. But on the other hand her map app is always shutting down at the most inopportune time ...

You live in an unreal world detached from reality... wait ... Hollywood did you say? No wonder.

Hollywood types are quite airheads who spend money on stupid things while thinking they are cool...nothing new. Wait … I reckon there's an Apple parallel there...?

In all the competitive commercial tenders, whether private, public sector or MNCs, I have yet to see an Apple solution. & I'm talking about computers ordered in their hundreds or thousands. That's why Apple is non-existent in the enterprise field.

"iPhone high resale value" claims are not something to be proud of but something to be ashamed of! It only proves that iPhone users are utterly clueless. Buy a used phones with sealed batteries most likely worn out? Not in my life. Pay $320 for a one year old Apple product (equivalent to 2-3 year old relic in normal world IT time)? Shoot me 1st.

Name an app not available on Android & I will name you ten that are available on Android but can never be available on Apple.

Digital IS can be very good if made well :)Don't compare apple with oranges. Nokia got amazing, well-made OS - praise for them. But it has nothing to geal with digital vs optical IS. Only issue with digital OS is the fact that it produces artifacts in video - through this as well depends on processing power and methods used.

why to strip down iPhone 5, because following link show Nokia 920 is far better. I dont say much but it is worth reading this link.-- http://www.nok4us.com/2012/09/specs-sheet-lumia-920-vs-apple-iphone5.html

If I were dumb enough to actually care what's inside an iPhone, I'd likely be the type of person that already owns one. Thankfully, I'm not, and couldn't give a crap about what's inside an iPhone.

To me, the fact that there are Samsung and Sony components inside an Apple product, but there are no Apple components inside a Samsung or Sony product, speaks volumes.

Then again, I'm not a brainwashed Apple user, and therefore, am perfectly capable of working these things out for myself. I prefer freedom, and being an adult capable of knowing when I'm being manipulated, I refuse to be kept on Apple-branded leash called iTunes.

You'll never convert me to Apple, never, no matter what you say. Only Apple can convert me to Apple and there's no way that is going to happen until:

A - They quit tying everything to iTunes.B - They allow iOS development actually on an iOS device.C - They provide an editable EQ as standard.

The only reason Apple have been able to achieve what they have achieved, is the physical quality of the hardware. Without that, it's just far too manipulative a format compared to the competition, and no one in the right mind would pay the prices they demand otherwise.

@PeiasdfI always visit Apple related threads because I like to analyse the behaviour and reactions of the general Apple using public, it's been a favourite pass-time of mine for years now.

As for me not knowing what I'm talking about, let's remember that I'm not the one who owns a "locked-in" Apple product, you are.

It might surprise you to know this, but I'm guessing that when people try pointing out to you what you're supporting, they are doing it, subconsciously, for your own good. Sure there are those that do it just for a kick, but for most it's the unfathomable fact that "adults" actually buy Apple products.

I mean if you're a teenager, then fair enough; a teenager can't be expected to pick-up on when they're being manipulated without more life experience. But for an adult to do that, I'm sorry, but an adult should know better; that's what drives people to comment in the way they do.

It comes across so incredibly dumb for a adult to fall for it, it makes a person wonder.

Most generalization are in fact a byproduct of limited knowledge and biases, and you're projecting a whole lot of generalizations. Do you disagree that Apple products are different enough to warrant a fairly knowledgable person into opting to buy an Apple product rather than products you would consider superior? Perhaps, they like the OS better or the handling, size, or a number of other reasons? I mean, do you actually think everyone who buys an iPhone are in fact dumb people who only fell for the marketing and not because they just might like the device?

You're sitting here and talking about dumb people who fall for marketing and love a company to an unreasonable degree, but do you realize that you're on the exact opposite of this spectrum, and your kind is just as annoying. It's fine if you don't like a product, don't buy it. Instead go and buy a superior product and then spout on online forums how you're the pinnacle of your species, because that's the "adult" thing to do.

@RadPhotoIt's the marketing and physical qualities. Usability of the OS is only a small part of it, silly.

@persiyanAn intelligent question that deserves an intelligent answer.

I don't disagree that Apple products are different enough to warrant even a very knowledgeable person to want one, but not to buy one.

Wanting is understandable, but buying isn't when you take into account what you're buying into. You're buying into a locked system, one where Apple can dictate whatever it likes. Apple users are prepared to buy into this despite the fact that we humans have been fighting for freedom since as far back as any of us can remember.

Apple overstep the mark because you're:

A - Forced to buy Apps from Apple (AKA a Monopoly).B - Forced to use iTunes to populate a device you paid for.

You're an adult, and should not be dictated to by a computer company. Being told what you can and cannot do, ends when you become an adult.

That's true, but it's still too manipulative. It would be different if, for example, they said right, we recommend you use iTunes, but if you want to do it your own way, fine, drag and drop like everyone else.

You don't have that option, you're forced to use iTunes, and you are forced to buy all Apps from Apple. On an Android device, no matter what the manufacturer, you are able to make choices as to where you buy your Apps, and that's what the governments need to force Apple to do.

My Citizen watch also has one, and of course it IS scratchable - it all depends on the amount of pressure and the type of material that scratches against it ;). Ceramics and minerals tend to be very hard, so these can scratch sapphire, easily, if you are not careful.

Sapphire is a 9 on the gemologists' Mohs scale, with diamonds at 10, meaning sapphires are right up there with the hardest of materials. 'Minerals' can be anything from talc to diamonds, and a sapphire crystal will be safe from almost all (likewise ceramics). I'm not an Apple fan, but this was a smart move.

Yeah, thanks :p I have a real camera, and I like having advanced smart phones too (which leaves out the 808). The better the camera on the phone, the more decent images I can get in situations where I didn't bring my real camera along.

You're looking at the camera assembly, not the sensor. Your comparison right there is like saying the Sony NEX 7 must have a smaller sensor than the Canon 7D because the body is smaller.

We know the focal lengths of the lenses (4.28mm on the 4S, 4.13 on the 5). We know the effective focal length as embedded into the EXIF. (35mm on the 4S, 33mm on the 5). Simple math shows us that there is at most a 2.3% difference in sensor size.

If we consider that there may be a rounding error involved (since EFLs are always rounded to the nearest integer), and then consider that the true EFL of the 4S camera may be 34.6mm, and the EFL of the 5 camera may be 33.4mm, then we get at most a 0.04% difference in sensor size.

@Klamo, good point. I also did the math with the EXIF data, and it could be that the sensor is the same size. Also, I could be wrong about the assembly. At first it looks like the 4S one is larger, but that could be just the grey padding around the border.

I just bought an iPhone yesterday and took over 200 photos at my daughters 3rd birthday party today. I'm very disappointed with the image quality. More than half the photos are blurry or out of focus. The quality is as bad as the early 2MB digital cameras. I wonder if I have a defective iPhone 5.

@ Pam DCould you tell me what country you are in? You have just registered so I cannot tell if you have bought an iPhone 5 or earlier models. Also, under what type of light were you trying to take picture?

@Pam ... I don't know what your ability is as a photographer, but all the physics of photography still hold true even if you are using an i5. It's an even lighter camera that doesn't do well at dampening your movement, it's still a very small sensor, etc. IOW you have to do everything just right to get maximum quality out of your iPhone camera. Don't forget, the camera didn't take the photos ... you did. :-)